The present invention relates to image capturing apparatuses, such as digital cameras, methods for recording captured image data, and captured image data processing apparatuses, such as hard disk recorders, and captured image data processing methods.
When capturing and recording images of objects using digital cameras or video cameras, users appropriately adjust the image-capturing conditions, such as the white balance, focus, exposure setting, and zoom ratio, prior to the recording. However, such image-capturing conditions may not always be optimally adjusted or the cameras may be shaken during the photographing operation. Thus, image information is not necessarily recorded under the optimum image-capturing conditions, resulting in image capturing and recording failures under non-optimum image-capturing conditions.
In the related art, when playing back images, camera apparatuses play back even defective images caused by failures in capturing and recording, such as out-of-focus images or images that are too bright or dark to make out much detail.
Such defective images are unnecessary for users. If the unnecessary images are played back, the users are forced to waste unnecessary time in playing back the images.
Improved video cameras that overcome this problem have been proposed. An improved video camera causes a user to select an “OK” or “NG (or not-OK)” option for each captured image when recording images, and records the selected “OK” or “NG” identification signal that is converted into a digital signal onto videotape together with the image data. In an editing and recording mode, a controller of the video camera plays back images while skipping unwanted images according to the “OK” or “NG” identification signals to edit and record the played back images.
The video camera allows an image that is specified as “NG” by user to be skipped, and the skipped image is not included in the edited and recorded data. It is therefore possible to play back only desired images that are specified as “OK” by the user.
In the method employed in this video camera, however, the user needs to select either “OK” or “NG” for each captured image at the time of recording, which is time-consuming. Another problem is that it is difficult to play back images specified as “NG” if requested to do so later because the image data specified as “NG” is not included in the edited and recorded data.
An apparatus that overcomes the problems is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-78859. According to a first embodiment of this publication, image-capturing conditions are recorded onto a recording medium together with captured image data to be recorded. At the time of playback, the image-capturing conditions are analyzed, and a defective image portion due to a capturing and recording error is skipped. According to a second embodiment of the above-noted publication, recorded captured image data is analyzed to determine a defective image portion caused by a capturing and recording error, and the defective portion is skipped.
At the time of playback, the apparatus according to the first embodiment of the above-noted publication plays back the data relating to the image-capturing conditions of each of the images to determine whether or not to skip the current image prior to the playback operation, and skips the image that is determined to do so. The apparatus according to the second embodiment of the above-noted publication skips a defective image portion caused by a capturing error that is determined from the played back images.
In this publication, therefore, it is necessary to analyze image-capturing condition information or playback images at the time of playback to determine a playback image to be skipped at the time of playback. A high processing load on the playback apparatus is thus needed.
Further, the image to be skipped is determined from analysis results of the image-capturing condition information or analysis results of playback-image information. For example, if a user desires to play back a slightly defective image, it is difficult to accomplish the desire of the user.